Rusty Roses
by PatchTheProdigy
Summary: Rosy, orphan-turned-princess, is back in Ponyland for three days, and boy will it be a fun trip. She's very excited to visit Patch and all of her other old friends. She's perhaps most excited to visit Rusty Dough, though. My Little Pony Tales; Rosy-centric with an emphasis on the Rosy/Patch and the Rosy/Rusty dynamics. Ignorable PatchBon.
1. There's a Princess in Ponyland!

_PatchTheProdigy presents..._

**_Rusty Roses_**

Nerves and excitement made the pale yellow princess's heart drum out at at least three hundred beats per minute, and her pale blue eyes were shining as intensely as the golden tiara that sat upon her head. An entirely euphoric grin spread across her muzzle, even though she was just staring ahead in the carriage and gently kicking the seat she sat in. Princess Rosy was eager, and she was ready to show the world!

...Except the world wasn't ready. Her father, a white pony with a bottle green mane and a large crown sighed wearily. "Rosy, my dear, please settle down. 'Tis eleven at night, and we need sleep to function."

Rosy stopped her kicking briefly and chirped, "Okay dad!"

...Except the fact that there was no way in all the kingdom she could settle down. Just the very fact that her parents were there reminded her of one _very _special pony. Patch.

Perhaps it would change with time, the fact that she thought of Patch every time her parents spoke to her. But she would never, _ever _stop loving Patch like she did. She wasn't just the one who reunited her with her birth parents. She was the beacon in her life; the one variable that never changed.

And now, she was going back to Ponyland to see her best friend and her other old buddies. That would be so exciting there was no way she could stop! She kicked the seat even harder in attempt to quell her incoming energy.

She noted the window out of the the corner of her eye, and dove forth, putting her face on the clean glass material. She could see nothing but dark; however, soon the texture of the road changed to that of Pony Bridge, the five-mile long bridge that would get her to Ponyland was finally being crossed.

Another sigh came from her father. "Rosy, why not go sit front with Crestone and the steeds? That way you'll see Ponyland a little bit early."

Rosy nodded eagerly. Her father wearily grunted as he pushed the button on the front of the carriage, and spoke into it: "Crestone, halt the steeds."

The carriage stopped. Rosy practically threw her crown into her seat and jumped out the carriage's sliding door. After slamming it shut behind her, she jumped up next to a very sleepy blue and brown pony, who was guiding the two very exhausted Clydesdales in the front. Crestone took the hint and continued the ride.

She threw her neck back so she could look at the stars that lit up the night sky, along with the gibbous moon. A smile crossed her features as she looked up, and her blue eyes reflected back up the sight she was beholding. _These ought to be the same stars Patch and I used to see through the crescent window in the orphanage, _Rosy figured. Memories of those nights when Patch would point out the North Star and all of those other constellations she's learned from books stuck to her mind. It'd always been so much fun to listen to Patch talk about what she'd learned.

_I wonder if Patch is looking at these same stars right now._

⁂⁂⁂

The answer to the princess's question was a large, resounding 'no.' Patch's back rose and fell slowly with her breath as she lay, curled up in a ball and asleep. Her head was resting on a light brown blue yarn-emblazoned flank, her adoptive mother's. Knit Knack gazed down at her with affection in her light blue eyes.

A tall gold male with a slightly dustier gold mane held his hoof over his (you guessed it) gold eyes, looking out over the hill on which the trio was laying down. It was long and grassy, with foliage everywhere. On the very top was the Ponyland Royalty Landing, a tall white and cherise castle. If the King and Queen were on a long journey, then they might stop and sleep at the place. Not a single house in Ponyland was worth more than the PEARL, as the locals referred to it.

Davel Hurst kept his eyes sharp, the only thing keeping him from falling asleep the repeating thought, _Patch wants this, Patch wants this. _"What time is it, Dave?" Knit called out to him.

The gold pony pulled his hoof up to look at the watch he'd equipped for just the occasion. "It's almost eleven thirty," he replied in a moderate voice. "Eleven twenty seven, to be exact. They said they'd be here in three minutes."

Dave approached his wife and daughter, staring exclusively at the latter when he got there. He raised an eyebrow and grinned affectionately down at his daughter. "Do ya think we should wake her up? She sure was excited earlier."

Knit nodded. "Yes, I think she would appreciate it."

Suddenly, the nasally sound of an amateur trumpet sounded: _bum__, bum baam. _Both parents looked up to see the royal carriage in the distance, coming at an astoundingly fast pace. Dave and Knit exchanged a glance before parting ways.

As Dave approached, he spotted a very familiar little yellow pony climb off the front, making a stop inside the carriage and grabbing a tiara. Tapping it against the gate once, Rosy pulled it open and dashed up to the golden pony. He could only stand on his hindlegs and spread his hooves out.

"Dave!" the normally-quiet Rosy exclaimed gleefully, leaping into the tie-wearing pony's forehooves with her own little forelegs wrapping around him.

Dave's auric eyes shot wide open at the sudden affectionate gesture. His hooves automatically returned the hug, but… it was weird. Normally Rosy was… well, not a _timid _pony, but compared with Patch she was. Rosy was a little reserved with physical closeness (except when that involved Patch, of course). Maybe she was just excited.

Suddenly, the sound of slamming carriage doors came, and Dave and Rosy both looked up from their embrace to see the abnormally tall King and Queen approach, carrying their respective scepters. Crestone stood nearby, carrying fur-lined suitcases and looking quite frazzled as he stood there, clearly struggling.

Dave lowered himself to the ground and practically murmured, "Your Majesties."

The King tilted his tall, ruby-headed golden rod and nodded his acknowledgement. Crestone quickly gave the Clydesdales water dishes before arranging his hair, setting the suitcases down, and approaching Dave with a clipboard. He cleared his throat. "Er, yes. You are Davel Phillip Hurst, construction worker for… _Pony Construction?!_" Crestone gave the paper he was reading from an extra hard, odd stare before looking at the gold pony. "...Is this information, er, _correct?_"

Dave nodded and smiled. "Yes sir. Pony Construction is the local construction business."

Crestone gave the other male a shocked beyond belief look before clearing his throat and saying, "Er, I see. Davel Phillip Hurst of Pony Construction, adoptive father of Patchwork Pony. Wedded to Mrs. Knit Knack… _Knit Knack _Hurst of unemployment?"

Dave nodded, stifling a chuckle at the royalty aide's shock and settling for a grin instead. "All right except for one thing: she runs her own business. Flea market stall."

"Yes." Crestone scribbled something on his board before sniffing. "Could I please see… Patchwork Pony?"

"Cowabunga Rosy!"

Patch dived in and landed in a bow in front of the King and Queen. The latter's lips turned up in a smile and her yellow eyes glinted amusedly. "Now, now, no need for such formalities with us, Patchwork. We are still eternally grateful for your role in getting our beloved daughter back."

The peach pony grinned, and her ears fell just slightly to the side. "Oh, uh… sure, Majesty."

The Queen waved her scepter dismissively. "No, no, Mary will do just fine."

"Wow… okay, Mary. Yeah." She glanced towards Rosy briefly before smiling back at the queen.

"Yes. So, I take it you'll take great care of our prized daughter in the three days we can spare her?" the King responded. "Oh, yes, and you are permitted to call me Francis."

"Mary-Francis…" Patch muttered, before cutting off a snigger under her breath. "Oh yeah! Rosy and I'll watch each other's backs. She'll be returned to you in one piece, I promise." Patch grinned and pulled the smaller pony against her in a side-hug.

"I, hem, _expect _so," Crestone added to the conversation, marking something on his clipboard. He nodded definitively. "We shall be back at approximately o'eleven hundred hours… say, sixty hours from now."

"You can count on it, Majesties," Dave replied, bowing his head just slightly.

"Of course. I trust you will take care of her, and I'll miss my Rose so much." Mary smiled and leaned over Patch and Rosy. She bent down and gave the younger of the girls a huge hug, which Rosy returned in kind.

"I'll be okay mom," she added. "Don't worry about a thing."

The Queen nodded. "Yes, I-I know and trust that you'll be okay. In case of an emergency, we are just a carriage ride away, and there are guards stationed here."

"I know mom."

The pink-maned matriarch nodded solemnly before turning her attention to Crestone. "Yes. Then, Crestone, begin unpacking our luggage."\

The drowsy blue pony bowed so low to the ground that his knees twitched. "Majesties," he murmured.

The King and Queen exchanged a quick glance before the King bent down and planted a kiss on Rosy's forehead. Then the royal pair walked away, the queen letting out a weary sigh within earshot of the girls.

The moment that the sound of their hooves hitting gentle cement became quiet and somewhat distant, Rosy nuzzled up to Patch and a giggle erupted out of her. "It's great to have you here, Patch!"

The bigger peach pony, who'd formerly been staring inattentively at the royal aide unfastening the Clydesdales from the carriage to lead in, turned towards her friend and grinned putting her hoof around her neck. "Heya Rosy. How have you been?" She stuck her head up and yawned loudly.

"I've been doing good," Rosy replied, grinning widely. "I _really _wanna hear about all the girls! How did Melody do with Key to My Heart? Whatever happened with Bon Bon and the recipe contest?" Rosy nudged the other pony as she said the latter.

"Oh. Oh!" Patch replied, her eyelids blinking out of synchronization. "Yah, it was pretty good. Mels won the contest. Bon Bon is… fine."

Dave chuckled as he put his hoof on Patch's shoulder. "Ol' Patchy here is pretty tired."

Rosy looked at her friend's unfocused eyes and the smile fell off her face briefly. _Wait until tomorrow, Rosy. You know how she is with remembering when she's tired._

But then she nodded and let a small smile grace her muzzle once more. "Alright, tomorrow then."

⁂⁂⁂

"Rosy?!"

Rosy grumbled lowly at the overeager voice, clenching her eyes shut and burying her face back in the hardly princessworthy pillow. Her neck ached miserably from her sleeping position; in a ragged, ripped-up old sleeping bag that Patch's parents had that was the color of a pine tree's leaves. The scent of her friend got her to sleep, but she was aching from the lack of seven hundred-count sheets, or a comfortable mattress that did just the right amount of sinking around her form.

Besides, she was used to being woken up by the gentle filtering of sunlight through her eyelids, not the rough prodding that a pony was then doing to her shoulder. "Rose, when did you get here?" she asked, her voice cracking in the middle.

It was then that her mental flashcards halted and she remembered just _who_ that pony was. How could she forget, even in a sleepy daze? Her eyes shot open and she found herself immediately facing a pair of gold eyes and a muzzle with a huge smile across it and hot breath that smelled, oddly, like toast. "Last night," she replied, smiling in turn at her older friend. _No need to mention you were half awake and totally forgot about it..._

Patch suddenly backed up, and her eyes widened. Her jaw fell a good few inches. "Wow, Rosy, you're getting so big!"

Without any warning at all, Patch roughly pulled Rosy to her hooves, wrenching that neck injury with her rough handling. The princess's face contorted in pain for a brief moment as she was yanked up. Rosy stood there, her awful bedhead still on and her neck still aching while Patch's jaw dropped even further. "Wow. I don't mean to sound like old Grandma Quilty, but... You're so much bigger than you were the last time I saw you!"

Just standing next to Patch, fully awake and not totally euphoric, she could, indeed, see the difference. Before her ascension of princesshood, the younger yellow pony would have had to tilt her head just slightly upwards for her eyes to meet those of her best friend, as Patch was an entire head bigger than she was. But right that instant, she was at the tip of her muzzle in height, and had likely grown two inches in the months.

Of course, that was just assuming that Patch hadn't grown an inch. "Wow, I guess you're right."

"It must be the magic from that crown of yours," Patch theorized with a grin. "Kingsley and Queeny are taller than pretty much anyone I know."

"Hmm, I guess." To be totally honest, it'd seemed totally pointless before Patch mentioned it. Maybe she'd ask her parents about it when she got back to the Isle of Pony.

"Seriously, wow. You're growing up so fast. I mean, I'm _not _the youngest out of our friends, but I'm still getting to be the smallest," Patch went on. "Bon Bon and Melody are the worst. They're getting so big, and so _beautiful_. Me… ahh, I'm still just me."

Rosy frowned, her eyebrows falling downwards. "You're awfully pretty too Patch. And you'll see, you'll go through a growth spurt soon."

Patch shrugged. "It doesn't matter that much. I mean, I'm better at hide n' seek, and I'm still a, hmm… maybe a seven in looks."

Both girls giggled. "Yep. I bet mom is making breakfast right now, hopefully blueberry pancakes, so what do you want to do first?"

Rosy shrugged her indifference, but cringed again at her shoulder pain. Patch raised an eyebrow at the gesture. "Uh, are you feeling okay?"

"Oh, it's no big deal: it's just my neck," Rosy explained earnestly. "I'm just not so used to sleeping on the floor anymore. Usually they give me fluffy sheets, a really nice mattress and a lot more pillows." Rosy blushed a tiny bit as she realized the swooning note in her voice. "I just have to get reused to it is all."

Patch put her hoof around and pressed at the pressure point. She hmmed, perhaps unknowingly, as she felt around it. Rosy noted that she herself relaxed a bit under her friend's touch.

Three pinches to the pressure point later, and Patch backed away. "There you have it. The tension oughta loosen up. So now that that's settled… what do you want to do today?"

Rosy, never much of a leader by nature, simply replied, "Well, what do you have planned?"

Patch's ears shot up. "Hey, how'd you know I had a plan?" the peach pony asked, a shocked and confused (Shonfused? Cocked?) expression on her face.

Rosy rolled her eyes and giggled. "Well, you always seem to have the plan on where to go. And whenever you're really excited about something, you plan for it."

The peach pony thought for just a moment, and then chuckled. "Heh, I guess so. The only thing that I _have _to do today is help Bon Bon out. See, she has this brown wooden chair she wants to be painted blue. And unless we get sidetracked, that shouldn't take more than an hour. But other than that, we-"

Rosy gasped sharply inward, and her pupils grew with the idea now swirling inside her princessy head. "Let's do that right after breakfast!"

"Huh? Why are you so excited to see Bon Bon?" Patch asked, grinning easily though clearly still confused. "I thought _I _was the only one who got that excited."

Rosy pulled her brush, a jewel-encrusted pink one, up to herself from her sleeping bag, smiling gleefully as she ran it through her light pink locks. "Well, Bon Bon is my friend, and I want to see her and all, but it's Rusty!"

Patch blinked, probably getting a mental image of the light-colored boy pony with the dusty orange mane and the freckles on his muzzle. He rarely went anywhere without his favorite blue baseball cap. "Oh yeah, you were pretty good pals with Rusty back in the day, weren'cha?"

Rosy nodded as she switched parts in her hair. "Yep. He and I are such great friends… he's probably the one I miss the second most around these parts. Oh, we might play baseball or go roller skating… we did those things all the time, see, when we could play together all the time."

"Yep, you and him _were _pretty tight. Sounds like a good idea. Yeah, let's do it, Rosy." Patch vigorously nodded her approval. "'Soon as the pancakes are done-"

"Patch! Rosy! Food!"

Patch jumped up on the spot. "Ooh boy! Coming mom!"

Then, the taupe pony dashed out of the room, her hoofsteps audible against the carpet all the way up to Rosy.

.

The pale yellow princess sighed and shook her head, grinning with amusement at her friend's excitement. Sometimes Patch could be such an odd little weirdo, but aw, she loved that about her

And she was just as excited to see her old buddy again, so she skipped down after her friend, a huge smile across her face.


	2. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

**Rusty Roses**

**Chapter II: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood**

⁂⁂⁂

Patch knocked on the door at least twenty two times (Rosy lost track) before she rested her hoof back on the ground.

Rosy's eyes wandered to her as she did so, a bit weirded out… Patch had a lot of quirks, but knocking on doors a hundred times wasn't one of them. Her childhood friend had a slightly nervous smile on her muzzle, as well as sweat flecking her brow. It took several moments before someone answered the door.

And that someone just happened to be the pink ponytail-wearing second eldest sibling of the family… Misty Dough. Her light blue eyes, which prior had been brimming with life for that hour's standards, soured upon seeing Patch. "Oh. It's you."

The taupe pony giggled nervously. "Heya Misty," she said, in a still-timid voice. "Eh, 'sup?"

"I thought we made it absolutely clear that wasn't going on here," the teenager replied, her voice testy.

"I just need to help out with a thing," Patch replied, rolling her hoof in a way she undoubtedly believed was nonchalant. It was a heck of a lot more nervous than it was nonchalant, that much was pretty obvious. "You know."

"That thing doesn't happen to be abnormal or destructive, is it?"

"Oh! No, no, no," Patch replied, looking surprised. Rosy knew that she wasn't surprised though, however much she looked it. She probably knew exactly what that _abnormal _thing was, though it probably wasn't abnormal in her books. Knowing her friend's difference from society at large. And 'destructive' could have had a load of meanings behind it.

Patch had gotten together with Bon Bon and Misty was overprotective. That was Rosy's guess.

"I wasn't thinking. This time, it's just painting a chair. That's all." She gave a tin bucket behind her hind leg a gentle kick. A dull clang sounded. "Nothing weird here."

"Yeah…" Misty's very pale azure eyes narrowed. "Really?"

"Um, yes, really," Rosy spoke up finally. She had a habit, ever since she was little, to just stand in the background, being unseen until she said something. That was one thing that hadn't changed upon her discovery of her heritage.

Misty drew in a sharp gasp as she looked at the light yellow pony. "Rosy? I, er… _Princess _Rosy?"

"Please, just call me Rosy."

"I didn't notice you there! Oh, your junior majesty. What brings you here today?" Misty spoke in that same excited tone Bon Bon sometimes used: her voice sped up and she suddenly had only succinct pauses in her speech.

It was as if her words had gone in one ear and out the other. That'd never happened with the ponytail-wearing older pony before. "Well, I was just-" Rosy had the slightest of pauses, in which she glanced at Patch and then back to Misty, "-coming with Patch to help her paint. I also really wanted to see you and the others again, too."

"Wow, that's so neat that you thought to see us, Rosy!" Misty was beaming at the younger of the pair. "We've missed you too. We're eating blueberry pancakes with honey syrup in here… do you want to join us? It's hardly fit for a princess, but-"

"Um…" Rosy glanced over at Patch, who was shaking her head with a frightened look in her eyes.

Because she was a terrific friend who ought to have received a trophy for her friendly deeds, she shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I've already eaten."

⁂⁂⁂

...Which is to say she said the exact opposite.

Patch shut the light purple door, leaning against it and sinking to the ground as it clicked shut. "That was the single most difficult thing I've done in my life," she said in a very raw tone.

"Really?" Bon Bon asked, surprise and doubt in her tone of voice.

Rosy stared at her hooves, shame in her eyes. Guilt made her mouth cold. "I'm awfully sorry, Patch…"

The taupe pony perked up immediately. "Not really. But geez, that wasn't easy. I mean, with Misty giving us the stink eye and all. She wouldn't stop glaring at me when I sat next to you in there, Bons." She shook her head, as if throwing the memory out of it. "Ugh. Horrid."

There was a minor pause of three point one-four-one-five-nine seconds before Bon Bon gave Rosy a grin. "You've grown a lot since you came last."

"D-did I really?" Rosy replied, looking at the yellow pony. She had to crane her neck just a smidge more than she had to meet her gaze the last time she'd seen her, she realized.

Bon Bon smiled, a little bit uncharacteristically friendly. "Sure you did. You're even prettier than when you left too."

Rosy's pale yellow cheeks turned a hot pink color. "Oh! Umm…"

"She is right, you know," Patch added helpfully, looking up from her pain and misery. "You aren't, ah, the best looking pony in the _room, _but your fur sparkles an awful lot."

"Patch!" Bon Bon exclaimed, shooting the peach pony a look that was a perfect cross between shock, fear and anger. A red blush tinged her face, and her knees ever-so-slightly shook.

Rosy's mouth turned into the slightest of smiles when she perceived that. Patch's smirk said all that the older taupe pony was feeling. "Aw, Bons, it's okay. Rose already knows."

"Oh." The single word, more of an enunciation really, came out flatly. Bon Bon suddenly found the light-cream carpet under her hooves to be worth her attention. "Um…"

"Don't worry, I approve," Rosy responded, her tone implying (and explicitly meaning) that she thought it just _swimming._

Bon Bon's eyes were still firmly averted from Rosy's, but she nodded shyly.

"How long has it been?"

Had Bon Bon not been an anxious, self-conscious wreck about loving most anyone and the freedom thereof, the two would have exchanged a long look while they slouched in their respective positions. But it just ended up Patch trying to initiate that type of thing so she could think straight, and Bon Bon just slouching under her dark cloud of despair.

"...Six months, maybe?" Patch replied, before shrugging. Clearly she didn't think all about it the same way Rosy did. "It's been awesome, though."

Rosy poked Patch's chest as she added, her eyes glinting with amusement, "And how many tries did it take?"

"None of your beeswax," Patch retorted, her tone light and amused."I messed up in every way possible, though. Eh, enough about that trivial stuff, though. We have a chair to paint."

"B'okay. I'm gonna go visit with Rusty."

Patch grinned and gave her childhood pal a pat on the head. "Okay Rosebud. Have fun."

"Don't mention any of this queer stuff to my family, okay?!" Bon Bon suddenly exclaimed, definite alarm and sadness in her voice. It cracked on at least three separate occasions.

Before Rosy could say anything, Patch was right at BB's side. "Yeah, it's really obscure. Bon reckons that they'd be mad and disown her or something. Don't worry about it, just be quiet."

Patch's tendencies meant that Rosy _would _be better off letting her handle it. The pony was pretty good at cheering ponies up and, after all… she and Bon Bon were _dating. _She almost danced around the term with glee in her head. "Alright, alright… Um, bye girls."

And pretty much just upon that, Rosy opened the somewhat-heavy light-colored door and was greeted with the sight of the yellow pony with the blue cap.

"Oh! Your majesty. What's goin' on in there?" His blue eyes were wide and shiny with curiosity.

"My name is ROSY, Rusty," the somewhat soft-spoken young pony replied. She hesitated before she continued, though. _He's really nice and good with secrets… can I really not tell him? _Rosy opened her mouth as she hesitated to speak, but then closed it again, her loyalty to her older friends winning out. "They're just painting a chair, is all."

Confusion flickered across his face. "You really mean, I can call you Rosy? But you're a princess now, and really, really important to the country."

"Oh, come on, Rusty, you know the answer to that." She stood up on her hindlegs and tentatively wrapped her forelegs around his shoulders for a brief moment before backing away and smiling, just a bit sheepishly. Again, she wasn't too good with physical contact, aside from Patch.

"O-Okay, Rosy. How have you been? What is being fully-fledged royalty like?"

While the boy's tone was still a bit cowed or at the very least shy, there was an undeniable curious glint in his eyes. The attempt to hide how eager he really was got Rosy to grin. "Oh, it's okay. I miss my old friends dearly, but my parents are nice and all."

"Oh! Cool. Um, what kinds'a games do ya play?"

Rosy's eyebrows furrowed up for a moment as she went deep in thought. What sorts of games _did_ she play? She had gone to sports games, lots as a matter of fact, but she couldn't remember the last time she'd played a game herself. "I haven't really _played _any since finding my real parents. I _have _gone to ball games, though." She paused briefly, remembering one time of note. "Oh yeah, once at a baseball game, I caught the baseball! That was my first one."

"Wow, that's so cool! I haven't been to a game in who _knows _how long. Those things are _expensive._" He adjusted his blue cap that he normally wore backwards so that it was in a bit of a diagonal slant on his head. "What do ya want to do, then, Rose?"

"You go ahead and pick, Rust."

"You're a prin- uh, okay… Baseball. Yeah, that'd be fun." He nodded emphatically. "We better go get the bat and ball, let's go."

⁂⁂⁂

"Wow, Rosy, you haven't lost your touch one bit, have ya?"

Rosy swung the bat, sending the ball high over one of Slice Cake's prized apple trees. A red hat, matching Rusty's except for in color, was shading her eyes. "You really mean it?" she called back, as Rusty darted to get it. It really felt like she'd have been able to launch the ball further had she never left.

After a moment, Rusty brought back the baseball and beamed. "Sure!" he chirped in response. "You could hit a ball out of a stadium if you wanted to."

Rosy blushed, staring at her hooves but not unpleased. "Thanks." The princess had always been shadowed over, in a sense, meaning that she never really got praised or scolded much. She may not have been used to it at all, but boy, did she enjoy being complimented! "Should we switch positions?" she added, after being a crab and deciding she didn't like it and rebecoming a yellow horse.

Rusty tossed the ball in a gentle arc. Rosy grabbed it (though it was more like tightening her grip, because it already flew right in her hoof). "Sounds good," he replied. He trotted over and, in a moment, he had his baseball bat at the ready and was facing off against Rosy with her ball.

Remembering the exact hoof movements, she tried her best to emulate that. It had to be a harsh toss, very straight, but it had to come from below to get the right momentum for a game-worthy pitch. It took her a minute of adjusting and swinging before she threw it out of her hoof.

It flew a bit upwards, and Rusty leapt up to catch it its altitude was so high. However, its celerity sent it flying over the apple tree and onto the other side. Rosy grimaced at her terrible pitch before calling, "Oh, let me go and get it."

Rosy dashed over in search of the ball… and was very surprised upon the sight of a little bunny rabbit with a red bowtie around its neck sitting next to it, nose twitching quickly to show its awareness. She stood there in awe for a moment before smiling softly and leaning her muzzle down to meet the bunny's. "Hey there little fellow," she greeted the fluffy creature.

It twitched its nose in response, its eyes adjusting to meet hers. They were huge and of a dark brown color.

Rosy couldn't help a little giggle. "I really need that ball, Mister Bunny."

It gave her a slightly questioning look before she motioned towards the ball. The little white creature seemed to realize what she was after, and nudged it over with its tiny, long-clawed paw. Rosy smiled again and took the ball back.

Then she promptly forgot that the encounter ever happened as she ambled with the ball in hoof. She passed Rusty, whose look was determined. He showed his well-brushed but not pearly teeth to her briefly as she passed.

⁂⁂⁂

"Wow, it's been so long since I've come here~!"

Rosy bounced a good way ahead of anyone else, grinning and keeping up her skip. Currently backdropping the princess was the corner of High Street and Gorgonzola Drive. A predictably-assembled group of horses gathered behind her.

"Come on, Rose, slow down!" Patch called, an actual frown coming across her muzzle. "Where are you headed to in such a hurry?"

Because Patch already knew the answer to the question, Rosy didn't bother responding, just continuing her digestion of every detail about her location, from the large pebble in her path to the gate to the park on her left. She took the sharp turn to begin spinning around on one of the poles comprising the black fence. What an uncharacteristic thing for her to do; normally she was heeling like a puppy dog at Patch's side, only speaking when spoken to.

The taupe pony noticed the change, and sighed. "She has the energy of a gazelle and you wouldn't even know it," she commented, definitely a bit aghast.

Bon Bon rolled her eyes in a playful manner and retorted, "And now you know how I feel."

"Gazelle?" Rusty asked, frowning. "What's a… gazelle?"

"It's an African animal that runs very gracefully," Bon Bon responded with a genial grin on her muzzle. "They're beautiful prey mammals. Patch has an unreasonably strong passion for them."

"What?! H-Hey!" Rusty nodded his understanding and Patch huffed. "I'm not even gonna dignify that with an oral response." She stuck her tongue out at both of them.

"Excusing my dea- umm, friend's immaturity here, Rusty, Rosy here is just excited."

A panting and sweaty Rosy made her way back to the group, showing her shiny white teeth to them in a wide grin. "They sound absolutely great," she commented after panting and heaving for just a moment. Everyone knw exactly what she was referring to; as a matter of fact, they were drawing very near the large yellow house dead-center of Triangle Way.

The first thing that happened upon reaching Melody around back in the garage was the Rockin' Beats and their leader singing the last verses of _Rhymes with Orange. _Well, Rosy finally calmed herself at the sight of who was both cool and hotheaded, Melody herself, but that was a subtle change.

The minute that the song ended, Melody Riff pushed her golden microphone onto the wooden work desk behind her and smiled relaxedly at Rosy. "Hiya Rosy. What've you been up to?"

Rosy did more than notice the aghast, disbelieving looks from the Rockin Beats. She crumbled a bit under their gazes as she focused her attention on the hot pink leader of the band. "Not much, Melody. How did that… that contest go?"

"Oh, _psht,_ it was an easy win." She trotted up to the little pony quadrupedally and with that usual bounce in her step. "Well, Rosy, what've you been up to lately?"

It occurred vaguely to Rosy that it was a repeated question. "Well, I've adapted well to princesshood," she responded. "It's different…"

"What's it like being a _princess_?" Melody continued, excitement beginning to enthuse her voice. "Pretty important, huh?"

"Well… not really that important. They give me big breakfasts and around lots of different places. I wake up with the sun falling on me." She didn't know why, but Rosy always thought that was worth mentioning. "I miss life here too, though. Being a princess isn't as fun."

"So, let me get this straight… the rumors are true?" Rosy looked over to a dark forest green pony with orange and purple hair, a little bit wavy in its style. Her light green eyes were very piercing, considering how pale they were. She sounded vaguely familiar. "You were really here before becoming a princess?"

Rosy nodded. "Pretty much." She wanted to ask what her name was, but the eyes of everyone on her made her feel uncomfortable.

The asker put a hoof on her chin in thought. "That's interesting. So you lived as an orphan."

Thankfully for Rosy, Patch answered for her. "We both did. We're friends, see. Best friends."

The pony seemed markedly less enthused, but still nodded curtly. "Alright, good to know."

"So Rosebud, I guess we've got some catching up to do! Hey, Rockin' Beats, what about we set down the music for a bit and go to the ice cream parlor, my treat?"

A chorus of 'sure,' 'sounds good to me!', 'rock on,' and 'alright, fine,' erupted from each of the individual band members' mouths.

⁂⁂⁂

As you could probably imagine, Starlight had quite the early morning surprise upon the sudden arrival of nine ponies, one the likes of which she hadn't seen in months. Ever the composed pony, though, she hid her shock with a smile. "Hello," she greeted all of them. She glanced elsewhere, at a clock. Rosy followed suit, seeing that the time marked about eight fifty. "The shop isn't even open yet."

"Oh, come on, you aren't gonna make us wait outside until nine, are you?" Melody was kind of like the makeshift leader of the huge group. She trotted up to the counter. "I'll take my usual."

An odd grin came across Starlight's muzzle before she giggled. "Okay, okay." She took a moment to pull the apron over her head. Seemingly out of nowhere she drew a pen and notepad. "Order up!"

Following a huge set of orders that Starlight was vaguely used to, being an eleven-year-old girl with six ten-year-old friends, everyone was seated with their ice cream. Well, okay, after Starlight and Melody had a brief argument over prices, Melody begrudgingly unhanded twenty-one jangles and shot a glare at Patch, who was snickering behind her hoof.

Rosy had to admit, being surrounded by friends (and, well, utter strangers) while lapping up the quickly-melting banana ice cream from the cone was pretty nostalgic in a way. It had that signature childhood simplicity; the way that even if one didn't grow up with pick-up sticks, it still felt like a call to the past, to a simpler time, before becoming a princess.

A long sigh escaped her muzzle. Really, she loved her parents. The King and Queen were really good to her, and felt very much like family. But she missed eating ice cream with friends, playing at arcades, having unique inputs about her drawings from each of her friends, artistic or not. She might even regret everything, if not for the guilty thought of her parents lingered on her mind...

_Q-Quit it. Those thoughts have no place here. You're a princess and that's that!_

It didn't seem certain.


End file.
